Why is the Taj Mahal considered one of the biggest inspirations for architects?

The Taj Mahal is an iconic piece of Indo-Islamic architecture built in the name of the love of an emperor for his wife. The stunning monument was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Taj Mahal is listed as one of the seven wonders of the world and stays as one of the most inspirational monuments for architecture enthusiasts worldwide.

Taj Mahal is a massive complex of gardens and buildings spread in over 22 hectares of land. While the most familiar part of the monument is the dome-shaped marble mausoleum, there are other attractions like subsidiary tombs, the town of Taj Ganji, and waterworks infrastructure.

Taj Mahal complex has multiple sections –

• The Moonlight Garden located on the north of the river Yamuna
• The Taj Ganji
• The Charbagh Garden
• The Jilaukhana for the accommodation of attendants of the tomb
• The Riverfront Terrace – Jawab, Mosque, and Mausoleum
• It is unknown as to who designed and planned the Taj Mahal. In the Islamic community, a design was credited to the patron and not the architects in old times. However, as per the contemporary sources of information, there was a skilled team of architects responsible for creating and supervising the building of the Taj Mahal.
• The materials used for the construction of the Taj Mahal were from all across Asia and India. Bricks with rubble inner cores were used to create buildings that were further covered using sandstone or marble to lock them together with clamps and iron dowels.
• Various walls of the Taj Mahal complex are multiple meters thick. The transportation of heavy building materials was a tedious task, and thousands of elephants were used for transportation purposes.
• The marble used was brought from quarries in Makrana, Rajasthan, around 400 kilometers from Agra. The sandstones used were quarried in Fatehpur Sikri, about 45 kilometers from Agra.
• The materials used for the creation of this stunning monument belonged to distant places. The Crystals and Jade were from China, Jasper from Punjab, Lapis Lazuli was from Afghanistan, Carnelian was from Arabia, Turquoise was from Tibet, and the Sapphire was from Si Lanka.
• There were 28 kinds of semi-precious and precious stones skillfully lain into the marble used for construction.

Conclusion

Taj Mahal continues to be an inspiration for people of the architecture industry for its marvelous creation, design, planning, and execution. Apart from the excellence in designing and construction, the motivation to build something this grand is commendable.